


Finding Gold

by Elayna



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Community: 1_million_words, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2013-03-18
Packaged: 2017-12-05 16:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/725332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elayna/pseuds/Elayna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A wee ficlet using the word 'leprechaun' for the 1_million_words community.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding Gold

By the fourth - fifth? - green beer, Steve had accepted that the color didn't detract from the excellent taste. And decided that Chin Ho Kelly laughing while wearing a "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" button was perhaps the most amusing sight in the world. Steve may even have giggled at the thought. Team bonding on St. Patrick's Day was one of the best ideas he'd had as the boss. 

"You, my friend, need more food in your system." Danny waved to the waiter, "Hey, another round of those corned beef sliders and the potato-y things. And a cabbage salad for this man. He loves his greens." 

The waiter scooped up the empty pitcher. "And another round of green beer?" 

"Definitely!" Kono inserted into the ordering, giggling a bit herself.

"No," Danny said with absolute firmness. "You're all being cut off. A large pitcher of water, please, and the food." 

The waiter glanced around the table, as if looking for a disagreement, and though Kono pouted, no one argued with the decision. 

"You people," Danny said fondly as the waiter left, "cannot hold your green beer." 

"The alcoholic content of this beer is quite high," Max defended. "I do not understand how you yourself are not quite tipsy." 

"I'm Irish. I can't get drunk on green beer."

"Williams is English, brah."

"I'm Irish on my mother's side."

Chin roused himself from his happy semi-slumber to proclaim, "We're all Irish today!" He raised his beer and took a deep drink, an example copied by everyone but Danny, who sighed gently. 

"Yes, because businesses love another excuse to sell people weird food and bad souvenirs. Even the Irish don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day the way Americans do."

"I caught a leprechaun once," Steve said, suddenly remembering that night. Wow, maybe he had drunk too much. 

Kono laughed, almost tipping out of her chair. "Brah, you are so drunk." 

The waiter arrived with the pitcher of ice water and fresh glasses, pouring for everyone. 

"A leprechaun, really." Danny spread his hands wide. He wanted to hear this story. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"I was in Ireland, researching the Hesse brothers." A country which was just as green as Steve had pictured, and where the people did love their beer, but which otherwise did not fit Steve's stereotypes. Countries rarely did match their depiction in American media. "And drinking in this pub in this small town, because I'd been told that the brothers occasionally came there. I was hoping to get some intel." 

"Or get drunk on the government's dime?" Danny asked. 

"It was the third year of my hunt. I was on a mission, but I had to blend in. I was walking back to the motel after the pub closed." He paused, trying to find words to convey the beauty of the moon, which had made him stop at the side of the road, just looking up to admire the gleaming light. "I heard a noise, and thought maybe someone who knew the Hesse brothers had followed me to see why I'd been asking questions."

"Because you, my friend, are never as subtle as you think you are."

Ignoring Danny's interruption, Steve continued, "I pretended I was drunk and having trouble figuring out where to go. Then I lunged at the sound and caught - this guy." Steve raised one hand from the ground, motioning that the fellow was about 2-3 feet tall. "He wore green clothes, but not all shiny and clean. He looked more like someone who camped a lot."

"And did he give you a pot of gold?" Max asked, appearing fascinated. 

"No, he told me my gold wasn't money, but that if I let him go, I would find it." The entire conversation had been weird, the way the fellow seemed to know Steve and everything about him, past and future. 

Max still looked as if he believed Steve's story. "So you let him go?"

"I couldn't keep him a prisoner." 

"Boss, even I am not drunk enough to believe that story." 

"You are very drunk, though," Danny said to Kono as the waiter arrived with a tray of corned beef sliders. "Eat one." 

"Yes, second boss," Kono replied, digging in with gusto. 

Steve didn't mention more about the leprechaun, letting the conversation drift to different subjects, but he hadn't been lying. He had caught that leprechaun, and had been promised his pot of gold. Had he been so drunk that he imagined the whole event? He didn't thought so. He hadn't thought about it for years, but now the memory was crystal clear in his mind. 

Later that night, after Danny had deemed that he was the only one sober enough to drive, and had tucked Kono, Chin and Max into a cab run by a cousin of Kamekona's, with very strict instructions on taking them home with no side trips, he drove Steve to his house on the beach. Instead of dropping Steve off, he got out with him, locking up the Camaro and following him up the front door. 

"What's up, D?"

"I didn't think you were ever going to remember that story."

"That story? What story? The one about the leprechaun?"

"He told you, Steve, that there are rules on these things. You had to remember to find your pot of gold." 

"I - " Steve thought about that night, and what the leprechaun had said, his gaze sliding over Danny's blond head. Maybe he had found his pot of gold, a richness worth way more than anything gold could buy. "Danny?" 

Danny cupped Steve's cheeks, urging him to lower his head. The taste of his lips was magical. 

~ the end ~


End file.
